Hello Randy & All,

Back home & busy.  Bees flew out to meet me and crap on my fresh wash job!
Maybe the bees  recognized my face as some researchers say they do.

The weather is the same here. Dry in the bee yards. First year I can
remember going in without spinning a wheel.

 Need rain bad but rain can come overnight and the weather people never seem
able to predict with a degree of accuracy when drought ends. We have still
got sub soil moisture but all the weather predictions were for a wet and
snowy winter. They missed again! Even the farm stations predicted a very wet
and snowy winter.

I think both might have based their predictions on either the color of the
wooly worms or the seed of a persimmon.

As a businessman I hate taking risks but not taking hives for almond
pollination based on a possible shortage of water to me does not make sense.
If it takes so many steps to produce a crop of almonds and if pollination is
step one I think I would gamble as rain can come quick and those mountain
lakes can fill and there will be a over supply of "ditch water".

In other words if an almond grower decides to not rent bees (even though a
regular bloom is expected) based on a possible lack of water or possible
high price for water

possible being the key word.

AND

The rains come ( long overdue for California) then what can you do? I guess
there is always next year?
In the Midwest our farmers plant every year regardless of the prospect of
dry weather and the only reason they do not is not able to get in wet
fields.

You do not get a crop with the seed bags still in the barn and large farmers
figure they are not going to get a crop every year but not planting assures
no crop or income to speak of.

Of course in the Midwest we consider almond growers almost hobby farmers
due to the small amount of land farmed in comparison. ( heh heh)

bob

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